Machine Translation Post Editing — How You Can Get it Right
Machine Translation (MT) is slowly gaining
traction due to its speed and cost-effectiveness. However, technology alone
can’t achieve the best results, and translations using them often have an inorganic
feel. Human translators still need to do machine translation post editing to ensure accuracy and context!
The
basic rules of machine translation post
editing
MT post editing combines the speed of machine
translation with the skill of professional translators. The result is a more
accurate text with better flow, greater cultural sensitivity, and a solid grasp
of slang and local terminology.
A good human editor can:
·
Make
quick decisions
·
Translate
the entire text
·
Correct
incoherent sentences
·
Delete
inaccurate sentences if they are irrelevant
·
Focus
on semantic and syntactic mistakes
If there are substantial errors on the
machine-translated text, an editor can re-translate the problematic the text, correct
stylistic mistakes, and replace recurring terms with synonyms.
Strategies
for machine translation postediting
In addition to the rules above, good editors
also take time to do some pre-editing of the source text. After all,
pre-editing is just as crucial as post-editing. Human editors should check
their source text thoroughly for the following:
·
Grammatical
and spelling errors
·
Long
and complex sentences
·
Sentences
and phrases with nuance and sarcasm
·
Sentences
and phrases with double-negatives
It’s also essential for an editor to
understand how the machine translator works before feeding text into the system
so that they can prepare the source text specifically for that machine.
Technology has never been more advanced, and Neural
Machine Translation (NMT) systems can now process millions of words in a single
hour. The resulting text is relatively accurate but still feels unnatural. The nuances,
tone, and sensitivity are lost.
This is why the human component can never be
taken away in the translation process. There is certainly a place for software
in the translation field, but machine translation post editing must always be
done for better results!
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